Designing not-my-website (26/365)

My main paid gig is working for an event design conference designcorporate communications a company which has great success communicating our clients’ goals but is still working out how to communicate what we do. Over the years we have developed a solid client base primarily through word of mouth but things are changing.

These days, there’s more demand to back up word-of-mouth with an online presence. These days, there’s more competition for a decreasing number of clients. These days, our need for a solid web site has increased dramatically. I have been in charge of spearheading the creation of that site. I will be working with a designer, but as someone who also designs from time-to-time, I know that it will be impossible for someone to create a good design for us if we’re not clear on what we need to communicate.

My day yesterday was filled with trying to capture that slippery entity which is our message. I was writing, perusing websites, pacing, spinning in my chair. It was the kind of day where my brain feels like it’s hiking steep mountains while I’m sure from the outside I look like I am doing very little. It was the kind of day that I usually like to have at home where no one can see me – in which case I get only more odd and more silent as the ideas and images start flying around inside my head.

Being fully engaged with this kind of process is a real joy and a real mystery. I’m eager to see the result.

Sidebar: Of course in the evening, in true gypsy form, I was suddenly hit with new ideas for the screenplay characters while I was watching a concert with friends. Happily, I did have my trusty index cards and pen with me and after some furious note-taking I was able to return to the concert at hand. It’s fun to see how many other things my mind is working away on while I’m just going about my daily life… and increasingly important that I have the tools at the ready to let it do that.

It is something to remind/tell people, huh? I think if I don’t acknowledge that part of the creative process, then I just get caught up busy work so it looks like I’m doing something. Not good! Let’s hear it for brains that just keep chugging along!